ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Shares Acquired by Wedmont Private Capital

Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,756 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 2,942 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COP. State Street Corp lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,046,263,000 after purchasing an additional 10,663,093 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,280,725,000 after buying an additional 5,240,016 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,601,639,000 after acquiring an additional 924,289 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,469,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,311,369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,716,400. The trade was a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This represents a 13.16 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $131.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $136.76.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:COP traded up $1.97 during trading on Monday, reaching $103.89. The stock had a trading volume of 4,159,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,426,319. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.19. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $94.23 and a 52 week high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.78 dividend. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 37.10%.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States, Canada, China, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.